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Dec 08
2008
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Not Barack--Not HillaryPosted by Anne Rockwell   |
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I'm amused that people who see the cover art by my daughter Lizzy Rockwell for our most recent collaboration, "Presidents' Day" assume that the boy and girl on the cover (dressed as Abraham Lincoln and George Washington) are intended to be Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Not so. The book was written and illustrated and delivered to the publisher long before we knew that our first major African-American contender for president would be running against our most formidable woman candidate in the Democrat primaries.
Those of you who've followed the series of books Lizzy and I have collaborated on, which are set in Mrs. Madoff's classroom ("A winning streak of classroom books," says ALA Booklist, or "a charmed place," according to Kirkus), you'll recognize Charlie, the tallest kid in the class, as well as Kate, who shares her birthday with George Washington himself. The two of them have been players in each of the titles in this series, and the many children who love these books know them as old friends. Charlie was chosen to play Lincoln because of his height, although he happens to be African-American. Kate was chosen to play Washington because of her date of birth.
So there you have it--not Barack, not Hillary. Just Charlie and Kate.
Filed under illustration , history , collaboration
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Show/hide commentswritten by Suzanne Kessler, April 21, 2009
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Best,
Anne